LAKEPORT, Calif. – On Tuesday the Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the final canvass of the November general election.
In addition, the board approved appointing Richard Ford, the county's assessor-recorder-elect, to fill the last week of the term of Assessor-Recorder Doug Wacker, who is retiring early.
Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley took the election certification to the board.
Before Fridley could certify the results, she said she had to conduct a public 1-percent manual tally of every contest on the ballot in four randomly selected precincts.
“That doesn't mean we count all the ballots, it's just every contest,” she said.
Fridley added, “I'm proud to say that the ballot counter counted correctly, that the only issues that we found were six ballots had to be duplicated due to voters incorrectly marking their ballot.”
Issues making those ballots difficult to read included smudges and scribble marks, she said.
Fridley said she also was very happy that the county has a voting system that counts the ballots – at the rate of 1,000 ballots a minute.
During the 1-percent manual tally, “It took four days to manually recount just those contests,” she said. “We're not talking about a whole lot.”
In county races, Fridley said Jeff Smith was reelected as District 2 supervisor; Jim Steele was elected to succeed Board Chair Denise Rushing, who represents District 3; and Ford was elected assessor-recorder.
Three county ballot measures failed, including marijuana measures O and P, which got 38.6 and 34.3 percent approval, respectively, according to Fridley.
The healthy lake sales tax, Measure S, needed a supermajority of 66.7 percent but only received 63.6 percent of the vote, Fridley said.
The board unanimously approved the resolution accepting the official canvas and certifying the results.
Following Fridley's presentation, County Administrative Officer Matt Perry asked the board to appoint Ford to finish Wacker's unexpired term.
Perry said the county had been notified that Wacker was retiring from county service effective Dec. 31. His last day of work will be Dec. 30.
Ford wasn't due to assume office until Jan. 6, however Perry encouraged the board to appoint Ford to fill the position during what would have been Wacker's final week on the job.
Perry reported to the board that he had spoken to Ford and he was in agreement with the recommendation.
Supervisor Anthony Farrington said he didn't understand why Wacker was retiring early, and asked if there was a benefit.
“Yes, there is,” Perry said.
Farrington then wanted to know what would happen if the board didn't appoint an interim assessor-recorder. “It's just bizarre to me.”
Perry said Wacker is following a precedent that's been set by some other elected officials who have retired a week early. “It's not uncommon.”
State government code also requires the Board of Supervisors fill vacancies in elective county offices.
Steele, who was in the audience, said that by retiring by the end of the year, employees in the California Public Employees' Retirement System, or CalPERS, get a benefit to their retirement.
The board unanimously approved Ford's interim appointment from Dec. 31 to Jan. 5.
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